Clow's Birthday Party
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: A challenge fic response to the character 'Yue' and the word 'cookie'. Who knew Yue could cook?


All the characters and situations in this story are based upon Card Captor Sakura, which is the property of CLAMP. No rights are assumed by writing and posting this story.

Slight spoiler warning If youhave not yet seen through the third season of CCS and do not know Yukito's and Eriol's ultimate secrets, this story contains those spoilers.

This story is a challenge-fic response to the character "Yue" and the word "cookie". I hope you enjoy the (predictable) result!

**Clow's Birthday Party**

Yue fanned his wings gently to guide the airflow through the open window. He was determined to keep his surprise to the very last minute, if he could.

The Moon Guardian kept glancing nervously over his shoulder to make certain he was still alone and unobserved. He most certainly did not want Sakura to discover him before he was ready. Kerberos could be intimidated (or shamed) into silence, but his presence here would be impossible to explain to either Touya or Fujitaka.

Though he'd rarely been in here, as himself and not Yukito, he felt at home. Perhaps it was what he was doing that made it feel so familiar. No, it was more than that.

Granted, he had the memories of Yukito to access, and Yuki was quite conversant with the kitchen of the Kinomoto household, but it went deeper than that. All the cupboards were arranged exactly as _his_ had been. The turntable of small jars on the second cupboard to the left of the stove (exactly where _he_ had kept his) held the same herbs and spices that _he_ had favored. After reaching unconsciously for the third time, without even looking, and coming up with exactly what he needed, Yue realized an astonishing thing. Fujitaka Kinomoto's kitchen was arranged _exactly_ as Clow Reed's had been.

That eerie realization, along with the activity he was currently engaged in, sent a surge of powerful longing and loneliness through the Moon Guardian of the Clow Cards. He had long since truly accepted Sakura as his mistress, and, as Clow Reed had hoped for him, discovered that he had the capacity to love her just as deeply as he had loved Clow himself. He wasn't unhappy with the fate selected and woven for him by his creator, but...

He still missed Clow. Maybe that was why he'd decided _this_ morning to creep down here before anyone else was up. Maybe that was why he was even now lifting the lid of the bamboo steamer to check on his handiwork.

A frown of dissatisfaction creased between his brows. The mingled aroma of coriander, clove and ginger, etched gently and delightfully into his memory, rose up faithfully from the steamer basket. He was relieved that he recalled the recipe properly. The appearance was correct, too. Still, something seemed off. He couldn't quite place it.

"They are exactly how I used to make them," he sighed. "So why...?"

"Yue? What's wrong? What are you doing? Is everything okay?"

Yue stiffened and his wings faltered half a beat in their gentle motion. He'd been so absorbed with what he was doing he forgot to keep watch. He'd not even heard Fujitaka approaching behind him.

"Everything is fine. I'm -- sorry, for using your kitchen without asking first..." he mumbled.

Fujitaka waved Yue's awkward apology aside. "No, you are as welcome here as your other self. You should know that!" Fujitaka's smile was welcome, gentle and warm. Yue blinked at him, noticing for the first time how very like Clow some of Fujitaka's mannerisms were. "What are you doing, though?" Fujitaka leaned over the bamboo steam basket enough to catch a whiff before Yue's wings could waft the aroma out the window. "This smells -- familiar, somehow."

Yue wasn't at all certain how much of Clow Fujitaka bore within him. Eriol had told him how Clow Reed, deciding that the end of his life was at hand, had split his soul in two, but placed all of his considerable power into only the half Eriol received. In this way, he hoped that Sakura, daughter of Fujitaka -- the other half of his soul, would be able to develop magic even stronger than his, and finally help his restless soul find the peace that had eluded him throughout his life. Everything happened, more or less, as the magician had planned, and Sakura had grown powerful enough to split Clow's power between the two halves of his soul -- Eriol and Fujitaka.

No one seemed to know what of himself Clow had bequeathed to the half of his soul that became Fujitaka. Yue now suspected there were strong and surprising hints of his maker and former master within Sakura's father, even to this day.

"Clow Reed taught me how to make them. These were his favorite sweet of all, so, I would get up early one day a year and make a batch for him. It seemed -- right, somehow, to do that today," Yue explained. "Of course, Clow is no longer here for me to give them to, so I thought I'd give them to Sakura, but..."

"Mmm?"

"Is it wrong of me to offer her the gift I used to make specially for Clow?" Yue asked. He lifted troubled eyes up to meet Fujitaka's warm and understanding gaze.

"You don't dishonor Clow by wanting to," Fujitaka began.

"No, that's not it," Yue interrupted. Fujitaka waited while Yue sorted out his thoughts.

"Clow Reed is -- gone. I used to make these for him, because I knew they were his favorite, and I knew it delighted him that I, since I don't do this whole cooking thing, ever, would make them for him. He loved the shape I used, too. It was a special thing for him, and I want to do something special and..."

"The word you are looking for is 'sweet'," Fujitaka smiled. "Yes, you are trying to be sweet, Yue-san!" he insisted when Yue began to shake his head. Yue glared.

"I want to do something special for Sakura, since she is my mistress. I've accepted that she is my mistress now and that Clow Reed is gone. It just -- doesn't seem right to give her the same gift I used to give a long-dead magician years and years ago. She is a different person, after all. But, this is all I know how to make." Yue spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

"Today is his birthday, isn't it?" Fujitaka asked. Yue nodded. "It's all right for you to still want to celebrate it, you know."

"Yes, but... He would be upset if I were selfish about it. It's not like I ever eat these," Yue shrugged his wings, indicating the contents of the steamer. "Perhaps this was a useless idea."

Fujitaka stepped forward and placed his hand gently on Yue's cheek. Yue shivered, as that was the exact gesture that Clow used to use to help him calm down.

"Yes. I find, once in a while, a bit of Clow inside of me." Fujitaka seemed to know why Yue shivered at his touch. "That part of me seems to be concerned with helping to calm those I care about, especially those that Clow also cared about, and to help them be happy. So, calm down Yue. How could your motivations be wrong?"

"It just seems wrong to make for Sakura exactly what I used to make for Clow," Yue murmured.

"Ah! Is that it? I can help!" Fujitaka beamed at him before opening his spice cabinet again and pulling out a small bottle. "Let's do this..."

And so it was that Clow's birthday was first celebrated in the Kinomoto household. Sakura, Touya and Kero-chan, when they came down to the kitchen for breakfast that morning, found Yue there, holding a tray of the special, spiced cookies he used to make only one day a year, on the day celebrating his master's birth. The white, wing-shaped cookies, exactly as he used to make them when Clow was alive, were in honor of Clow Reed, but the new shape, suggested by Fujitaka, was to honor his new mistress.

Sakura reached a tentative hand out to claim a cookie from the tray Yue held. She unerringly reached for a delicately pink cookie shaped according to the flower she was named for. She nibbled on the edge and smiled, finding the sweet-spicy taste quite to her liking.

"Happy Clow Reed's birthday, Sakura," Yue told her softly.

"You too, Yue-san," Sakura smiled in delight at him. "Thank you so much for making these for us, and for letting me know what Clow Reed's birthday is! Would it be okay, if we did this, every year?" she hesitated to ask. "It won't be too hard on you, will it, Yue-san, to remember Clow-san's birthday? Please say we can do this, again!"

Yue looked over his young mistress' head to meet Fujitaka's gaze. A smile crinkled the corners of the man's eyes, echoing many a smile Clow Reed had bestowed on his Moon Guardian. Yue was suddenly happy that the old impulse to celebrate his master's birthday spurred him into action this morning. He was grateful that Fujitaka's quick thinking, to dye part of the cookie dough batch pink and mold the cookies into a new shape, made it so Yue's ritual now included his new mistress as well. He was elated that Sakura was happy with the result.

"As you wish, mistress."

end

* * *

I've no idea if it's possible to cook cookies with steam. I just know that with steamed bread, the dough cooks without browning. If it is possible to bake cookies with steam, Yue would be able to shape the cookies into pure white wings for Clow and gentle pinkcherry blossoms for Sakura -- instead of brownish and brownish-pink tone which is what you get in an oven! 

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!

stargarde (at) yahoo (dot) com


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